hopkins



d@NTT)ED STATES PATENT FTSE,

L. E. HOPKINS, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

MACHINERY FOR 'VIANUFACTURNG 0F HAT-BODIES.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 9,484, dated December 21, 1852.

To all fr0/rom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, LANsING E. Horkrivs, of New York, in the county of New York and State of N ew York, have invented certain new and useful Tmprovements in Manufacturing Hat-Bodies, and that the following is a full, clear, and eXact description of the principle or character which distinguishes it from all otherI things before known and o-f the usual manner of making, modifying, and using the same.

Two difficulties have arisen in the construction of hat bodies on an exhausted cone, which are wetting the bers in some way, before they were removed from the cone, and secondly, a want of compactness and consistency at that period of their manufacture; to wet the stock at this period, and then drying' it before completing the 1nanufacture, seriously injures it, compelling the manufacturers at once to work up the hat bodies as fast as they are formed, or to seriously injure their property; and this in practice is found impossible; the bodies are made and sold to the trade, who manufacture them into hats from time to time afterward. No method has been heretofore adopted of hardening` the bodies without wett-ing the-m with water before they are taken from the cone, which T avoid in my process.

The apparatus is constructed as follows: I employ an endless feed apron (a) and rollers (Z9), together with a cylinder (o) armed with points, called a picker, all of which devices have long since been known and used in the manufacture of fur, and are well understood; below this picker T have a recess (d), which T call an inclosed air chamber, this chamber communicates by a trunk or pipe (c) with the exhausting fan hereafter' described; through this chamber ,a current of air is driven by the exhaust fan past the picker, driving forward the fur toward the cone (f), on which the hat body is to be formed. The exhaust fan (g) is a well known device for exhausting the air from the cone upon which the hat body is formed, and the air passing into it is driven -forward into the air chamber above named, which may also receive an additional supply from the fans (it) at the sides of the pickerl Upon the side of the cone opposite that at which the fur is received, T place a set of three, more or less, conical rollers (i), which press against the surface of the cone, and

turn as the cone revolves; on the curved part of the tip are several small rollers, clearly shown at Fig. 2, which 'it and adopt themselves to the curve, thus rolling over every part of the surface, and pressing down the fur as it is worked; and to facilitate the interlocking and hardening` the body to a consistency, T cause these rollers to have an end chase, by making inequalities in the revolving rim, upon which the cone sits, as at (70), against which the ends of the journals of the rollers rest, to move them up and down. A long pipe (o), having a slit its whole length, and curved to the section of the cone, may be employed, by covering the slit above named with cloth, and letting a slight breath of steam out upon the fur, simply to warm, but not to saturate it; this, as well as the rollers are jointet., so as to be thrown back from the cone at pleasure. Belfore the cone is used it is covered with a thin cloth cover, made to lit it, which comes oft' with the body when made and is then easily removed from it. The steam tube is small, and wound with cloth, and then a casing also, having a slit in it, is put on over the cloth to cover it, this is shown in Fig. 3.

(m), is the casing; (n), the tube covered with cloth; and (o), the steam tube before the cloth is put on.

This is an important construction, and is thus named and illustrated in detail. rThe purpose of th-e cloth cover over the cone is two fold, first, experience shows that the fur when formed directly upon the perfon rated metal cone slides down in little rolls occasionally injuring the fabric and giving' much trouble; this the cloth entirely prevents and as it is taken off with the fur body it can if necessary be retained in the body to further harden it before being finally removed while at the same time the operation goes on without removing the cone from its seat.

I ,do not claim the conical vibrating rollers for the purpose of felting or compressing a hat, or the cone separately as that is well known, but

claiml. Combining the hardening rollers with the perforated cone by means of a yielding or hinged frame in which they are placed substantially in the manner and for the purpose herein described.

2. I also claim giving to said rollers, i

5. I also claim covering the perforated Cone, preparatory to a deposition of fur thereon, with a Covering of thin cloth easily pervous to air upon which the fur is to be deposited, said cloth or fabric to be removed at each operation With the hat body deposited thereon.

LANSING E. HOPKINS.

`VVitnesses:l

J. BECKWITH VVEsT, T. C. DONN. 

